Post by doomedbloodwork on Sept 11, 2004 5:27:06 GMT -5
With the imminent arrival on DVD on the STAR WARS trilogy, who knows how things may have turned out if the film that preceeded it did not succeed.
THE OMEN (1976) was pushed for a wide release after a sensational weekend of previews. Despite mixed reviews at the time, it has become a public favourite. It's subsequent sequels, DAMIEN-OMEN II and THE FINAL CONFLICT (1978 and 1981 respectively) are also worth a look, the latter even more so when I caught it on DVD recently. It is also part of the reason why 20th Century Fox took a chance with STAR WARS.
Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) is an American diplomat based in Rome who is appointed to the post of US Ambassador to Great Britain. Just before he is, his wife loses her baby at birth. Knowing that the trauma could destroy her, a local priest suggests an adoption of another child who happens to be in the hospital at the same time. Thorn decides to take the child, whom they name Damien.
Five years later, at Damien's fifth birthday party a nanny, after seeing a German Shepherd with piercing eyes, decides to hang herself from Thorn's mansion window after proclaiming that she is doing it for Damien....!!
If you have strong religious beliefs, then your perception and reading of this film may be much stronger than mine. However, if you put those thoughts and feelings to one side and treat THE OMEN as a straightforward genre offering, then you are in for a treat. One of Richard Donner's best films and, of course, the film which won the late, great Jerry Goldsmith an Oscar for Best Musical Score.
THE OMEN (1976) was pushed for a wide release after a sensational weekend of previews. Despite mixed reviews at the time, it has become a public favourite. It's subsequent sequels, DAMIEN-OMEN II and THE FINAL CONFLICT (1978 and 1981 respectively) are also worth a look, the latter even more so when I caught it on DVD recently. It is also part of the reason why 20th Century Fox took a chance with STAR WARS.
Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) is an American diplomat based in Rome who is appointed to the post of US Ambassador to Great Britain. Just before he is, his wife loses her baby at birth. Knowing that the trauma could destroy her, a local priest suggests an adoption of another child who happens to be in the hospital at the same time. Thorn decides to take the child, whom they name Damien.
Five years later, at Damien's fifth birthday party a nanny, after seeing a German Shepherd with piercing eyes, decides to hang herself from Thorn's mansion window after proclaiming that she is doing it for Damien....!!
If you have strong religious beliefs, then your perception and reading of this film may be much stronger than mine. However, if you put those thoughts and feelings to one side and treat THE OMEN as a straightforward genre offering, then you are in for a treat. One of Richard Donner's best films and, of course, the film which won the late, great Jerry Goldsmith an Oscar for Best Musical Score.
